Water soluble compositions of fat soluble vitamins play an important role in the field of human and animal nutrition. Such compositions are usually marketed in the form of emulsions or dry powders. It is a common feature in such compositions that the fat soluble vitamins are usually protected with a matrix component, e.g., a gelatin matrix.
Stable vitamin compositions have also been conventionally obtained by a method wherein the vitamins are encapsulated in matrixes in the form of a powder. Products on the market are, e.g., vitamin A palmitate encapsulated in a CAPSUL® matrix, available under the name Vitamin A Palmitate 250 SD by F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, and vitamin A palmitate encapsulated in a gelatin matrix, available under the name Vitamin A Palmitate 250 CWS by F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG.
All the products on the market are sensitive to air, heat, light and humidity. Thus, there is a constant need to improve the stability under regular storage conditions. Accordingly, the problem addressed by the present invention was to find compositions comprising fat soluble substances showing an improved storage stability.
It has now been found that the stability can be improved by encapsulating one or more fat soluble substances in a glassy low-molecular weight carbohydrate matrix.